LIBRARYoTcOpESS: 

Chap ETa* b 3^ 
raiTEDmTESOFAlttEEIOA"; 



^ONS "F THE 

American 



Revolution 



District of Columbia s, 



A NNUAL AD^DRESS OF GEN. A. W. GREELY, 

U. S. A., PRESIDENT 

OFFICERS ELECTED FEBRUARY 22, i8cn 
STANDING COMMITTEES • - 



PRFSS '-il W. f. RORKWTS. WASMINOTOS 






ii Pjt *■■ 



/i'?w 



Sons of tbe Hnierican IRevolutton, 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SOCIETY. 



1. ADDRESS OF GENERAL A. W. GREELY, U. S. A., 
RETIRING PRESIDENT, AT ANNUAL MEETING, 
FEBRUARY 22, 1893. 

Washington City, February 22, 1893. 
Gentlemen of the District Society: 

It is gratifying at this Annual Meeting of our Society to record 
continued interest in its objects, augmentation of numbers, and 
financial prosperity. Our membership exceeds 400, and the 
financial report for the year shows a surplus on hand of about 
$800. 

The District Society numbers among its members an unusu- 
ally large number of notable men, including the Vice-President 
of the United States, several Justices of the Supreme Court, 
distinguished Senators and Representatives, Bureau Chiefs and 
other oificers of the Army and Navy, members renowned on 
the Bench and at the Bar, while happily conjoined with them 
are a large number of men holding subordinate offices under 
the Government or filling positions of honor and trust in pri- 
vate professional life. 

The Board of Managers has labored diligently to maintain the 
high standing of the Society by carefully scrutinizing, through 
its committees on eligibility and acceptability, applications for 
membership. Not only are historical proofs of eligibility re- 
quired, but recommendations for membership made by indi- 
viduals are further supplemented by reports in writing from the 
committees in charge of such applications. 

In order to interest the members actively in the Society, a 
large Committee on Advancement, headed by Gen. J. C. Breck- 
inridge, First Vice-President, has been organized. This com- 



mittee has been divided into sub-committees, with the follow- 
ing-named chairmen and subjects for consideration : 

Gen. William Smith, U. S. A.—" Battles on Land and 

Battlefields." 
Admiral J. E. Jouett, U. S. N. — "Naval Engagements." 
Gen. H. V. Boynton — "Addresses and Revolutionary 

Relics." 
President E. M. Gallaudet — "Recruiting." 
Col. M. M. Parker — "Meetings." 

It is believed that the extension of this system will ultimately 
redound to the credit of the Society and insure the success of 
ends in view. 

The most notable local event during the year was a largely 
attended meeting of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 
Sons of the Revolution of the District of Columbia, and our own 
Society, on July 4, 1892, on the grounds adjacent to Washing- 
ton Monument, where patriotic addresses suitable to the day 
and occasion were made. 

The efforts of the Society during the past year have been 
turned especially to plans of union with our sister patriotic 
society, the Sons of the Revolution. While the constant and 
unremitting efforts of our own Society and the Sons of the Rev- 
olution in the District have borne no fruit as regards national 
union, yet it has brought about a feeling of harmony and frater- 
nity between the two local societies which it is believed will 
continue undisturbed. Under a formal resolution of our Board 
of Managers, and in accordance with a vote of the general So- 
ciety, we have been co-operating with the Sons of the Revolu- 
tion of the District of Columbia on all public occasions, and have 
lost no opportunity in cultivating good fellowship between us 
or of stimulating patriotic ideas in the community at large. 

As regards the union of the national societies, a meeting was 
held by our own Society at Annapolis, Maryland, in the capitol 
building, where Washington resigned his commission at the 
end of the Revolutionary War. The National Society of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the Revo- 
lution of the District of Columbia and of Maryland, and the Sons 
of the American Revolution of Maryland also participated. At 



3 

this meeting, presided over by your President, earnest and pa- 
triotic addresses advocating union were made by Hon. John Lee 
Carroll, General, President Sons of the Revolution, by Gen. 
Bradley T. Johnson, President of the Maryland Society Sons of 
the American Revolution, and by Hon. John Goode, Alexander 
Porter Morse, and Ernest Wilkinson, of our own Society. 

Later it was felt that the time was ripe for union of the two 
societies, and after preliminary disc«ssions a joint committee of 
the two general societies (Sons of the American Revolution and 
Sons- of the Revolution), headed by Frederick S. Tallmadge, 
Jonathan Trumbull, ex-Governor John Lee Carroll, and General 
Horace Porter, formulated during the year a plan of consolida- 
tion and a constitution for mutual adoption. 

The outcome of the deliberations of this committee was a 
joint report, made to the President General of the Sons of the 
American Revolution and to the General President Sons of the 
Revolution, signed by the following gentlemen : 

FRED'K S. TALLMADGE, 

President of the Sons of the Revolution of the State of New York. 

JONATHAN TRUMBULL, 

President of the Connecticut Society Sons of the American 
Revolution. 

CHAS. H. WOODRUFF, 

' Delegate Nev/ York Sons of the Revolution. 

HORACE PORTER,, 

President General Society Sons of the American Revolution and 
Chairman General Conference Committee. 

JOHN LEE CARROLL, 

General President Society of Sons of the Revolution. 

BRADLEY T. JOHNSON, 

President Maryland Society Sons of the American RevoliUtion. 

EDWIN SHEPARD BARRETT, 

President Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution. 

JOHN WHITEHEAD, 

President New Jersey Sons of the American Revolution. 

O. H. ERNST, 

Delegate from District of Columbia Sons of the Revolution. 

WM. RIDGLEY GRIFFITH, 

Delegate from Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution. 



THOMAS W. HALL, 

Delegate from Maryland Society Sons of the Revolution. 

SAM W. PENNYPACKER, 

Delegate Sons of the Revolution of Pennsylvania. 

RICHARD McCALL CADWALADER, 

Vice-President and Delegate Sons of the Revolution of Penn- 
sylvania. 

CHARLES HENRY JONES, 

Delegate Sons of the Revolution of Pennsylvania. 

ROBERT LENOX BELKNAP, 

Delegate New York Society Sons of the Revolution 

JAMES MORTIMER MONTGOMERY, 

Secretary of Committee of Conference. 

General Secretary Sons of the Revolution. 

Secretary of Sons of the Revolution State of New York. 

NATHAN WARREN, 

Registrar Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution 

As will be observed, this joint report was signed by eleven 
(i i) officers of the Sons of the Revolution and six (6) officers 
of the Sons of the American Revolution. They unanimously 
decided and recommended : ist, that the Sons of the American 
Revolution and Sons of the Revolution do unite in one organi- 
zation : 2nd, that the Society so constituted be named. Sons of 
the Revolution : 3d, that the colors be those of the Sons of the 
Revolution (blue and buff); 4th, that the seal be, without 
material modification, that of the Sons of the Revolution and 
5th, that the insignia, in their general features, be those of the 
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. 

It further recommended: 

1. The presentation of its report to the respective National Societies of the 
Sons of the American Revolution and Sons of the Revolution at meetings to be 
called for that purpose on Thursday, the. i6th day of February, 1893, in the City 
of New York, and the adoption at such meetings of a resolution recommending 
the union of the two Societies and the adoption of the proposed Constitution. 

2. At a joint meeting, immediately thereafter, of the two General Societies, 
the adoption of the new Constitution and election of officers, to serve until the 
last Wednesday of April, 1894, or until their successors are elected. 

Under the four recommendations mentioned, this Society 
elected delegates to attend the Extraordinary meeting of the 



5 

National Society called for this purpose. The delegates of the 
District of Columbia used every honorable and legitimate effort 
to carry out the detailed instructions imposed upon them at 
the last general meeting; but earnest in their desire for union, 
however, consented to the general principles under which the 
union was to be perfected, that is, to adopt the name of the 
Sons of the Revolution, assume their colors and accept their 
seal and receive in return the single concession that our insignia 
should be those of the consolidated Society. 

Your delegates in the early part of the session were per- 
sistently opposed to three points in the proposed Constitution : 

I St. The omission from the proposed Constitution, in the 
article setting forth the objects of the Society, of the section 
which reads as follows : 

To carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell address to the 
American People : — To promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions 
for the general diffusion of knowledge, — thus developing an enlightened public 
opinion and affording to young and old such advantages as shall develop in them 
the largest capacity for performing the duties of American citizens. To cherish, 
maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom, to foster true patriotism 
and love of country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty. 

2d. The ineligibility for membership of "recognized patriots," 
whereby, descendants from the signers of the Association 
Tests throughout New England, of Committees of Safety in 
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the other Colonies, 
of the signers of the Mecklenburg and other local Declarations 
of Independence, and of the French allies who settled in America 
after the revolution, could not be received into the Society. 

3d. The objectionable provisions for collateral succession, 
copied with immaterial changes from the Constitution of the Sons 
of the Revolution of the Stateof New York, which section reads 
as follows : 

And provided further, that when there shall be no surviving issue in direct 
lineal succession from an officer, minute-man, soldier, sailor or marine, who died 
or was killed in actual service or from an officer who received by formal resolve 
the approbation of the Continental Congress for Revolutionary services, or from 
a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the claim of eligibility shall descend 
and be limited to one representative at a time in the nearest collateral line of 
descent from such ancestor, to be designated by the State Society; and no other 
descendants in collateral lines shall be admitted in right of any services whatever. 



6, 

It was stated in the discussion that some of the Sons of the 
Revolution also objected to collaterals as being eligible for 
membership and approved of the unvarying practice and rule of 
the Sons of the American Revolution, that is, to admit to mem- 
bership only those of strictly lineal descent. 

Believing that in a joint session, some of>these objectionable 
provisions might be eliminated, the National Society finally 
agreed to adopt the report and its recommendations, thus 
accepting on the part of the National Society of the Sons of the 
American Revolution, the name, colors and seal of the Sons of 
the Revolution and the insignia of the Sons of the American 
Revolution, while they reserved the right of individuals to 
offer such amendments as they thought proper in the joint 
session of the two societies, it being understood and agreed that 
unless such amendments were agreeable to both societies, they 
should be withdrawn. With this object, the following resolu- 
tions were adopted : 

Whereas, at the National Congress of the Sons of the American Revolution, 
held in New York City, April 30, 1892, a resolution was adopted appointing a 
committee to consider a plan of union with the Sons of the Revolution, and that 
society was cordially and earnestly invited to appoint a similar committee; and 

Whereas, said committees were appointed, and after full and deliberate con- 
sideration have unanimously submitted their report: 

Resolved, That the report be accepted and its recommendations adopted, and 
that when we adjourn it be to meet in joint session with the Sons of the Revo- 
lution, to carry into effect the recommendations of said report and perfect the 
union of the two societies: Provided, That we reserve the right of every indi- 
vidual member of either body to offer any amendment, which he may think 
proper, to the plan of union or the constitution for the consideration of the Joint 
meeting of the two societies. 

In return our National Society received from the Sons of the 
Revolution the following message: 

Resolved, That we recommend the union of the Sons of the Revolution and 
the Sons of the American Revolution and the adoption of the constitution pro- 
posed by the committees of the societies in tiie report received at tliis meeting. 

This resolution was presented by a committee headed by Mr. 
Frederick S. Tallmadge, President of the Sons of the Revolu- 
tion, State of New York, who, in an eloquent and impressive. 



address, urged its immediate adoption by our Society without 
amendment. After full discussion, the National Society, Sons of 
the American Revolution, in order to show their desire for union, 
and also in order to obviate any obstacles thereto, waived all 
points and unanimously adopted the above resolution exactly as 
formulated by the Sons of the Revolution. This information 
was conveyed by a committee to the General Society of the 
Sons of the Revolution, which organization was then asked to 
meet with us and formally ratify the constitution and elect gen- 
eral officers under the provisions of Section 4 of the joint report 
of the two societies above quoted, which reads: 

Fourth: * * this Committeee further recommends : 

2. At a joint meeting, immediately thereafter, of the two General Societies, 
the adoption of the new Constitution and election of officers, to serve until the 
last Wednesday of April, 1894. 

Greatly to our astonishment we were informed that the Sons 
of the Revolution had not consented to immediate action, and 
that the word "recommended" did not imply that they had 
"adopted" the Constitution. Instead of agreeing to immedi- 
ately meet and act, they presented a new plan as follows: 

Whereas, the Society of the Sons of the Revolution in general meeting assem- 
bled have unanimously approved of the union of their Society and the Sons of 
the American Revolution, 

Whereas, they do approve of the adoption of the Constitution recommended 
by the Committee of Conference of both societies, dated Dec. 22, 1892, and have 
recommended the same for adoption, and 

Whereas, such Constitution so recommended provides in Article third thereof, 
qualifications for membership therein, 

Therefore be it Resolved; That a committee of two be appointed by each 
General Society from among its members, with power to select a fifth member, 
who shall not be a member of either society, to which committee shall be 
submitted a list of the different State Societies of the Sons of the Revolution 
and of the Sons of the American Revolution, together with a list of the active 
members and their residences in each of the said State Societies, and also the 
credentials and applications upon which each of said members were so admitted; 
and be it further 

Resolved, . that said committee shall examine said credentials and applications 
and shall erase frotn the list of membership in each of said societies the name 
of any member of whose credentials and applications it would 7iot appear that 



8 

he was entitled to membership under the requirements of Article s, of 
said constitution ; and be it further 

Resolved, that a list of members so revised by sucli committee shall be certi- 
fied to the General Presidents of the Societies of the Sons of the Revolution, and 
of the Sons of the American Revolution; and that upon the receipt thereof such 
General Presidents shall call a joint meeting of both General Societies for the 
adoption of said constitution and the election of officers thereunder, at which 
meeting each State Society shall be entitled to representation according to the 
provisions of Art. 7, of said constitution, but upon the actual basis of member- 
ship so certified by said committee to said General Presidents, and be it further 

Resolved, that the said constitution, if approved at such meeting, together with 
the proceedings of the conference or meeting shall be submitted for final ratifica- 
tion to the various State Societies ; and be it further 

Resolved, that this meeting do now adjourn to meet upon the call of the 
General Presidents as herein provided. 

By these resolutions the Sons of the Revolution proposed to 
''erase from the list of membership * * * any member 
* * * not * * * entitled to membership under the re- 
quiremeyits of Article III of said Constitution,'" by which plan 
the collateral members of the Sons of the Revolution of New- 
York would remain in full fellowship, while the descendants of 
"recognized patriots" who are members of the Sons of the 
American Revolution would necessarily be expelled. It is 
believed that the proposition is unprecedented of asking a 
society to expel members because they were not qualified under 
a proposed Constitution. Any other method of gauging the 
eligibility of our own members than by the Constitution under 
which they were admitted could not for a moment be con- 
sidered. Retroactive legislation and ex post facto laws are 
repugnant to every true Son of the American Revolution. 

The National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, having 
conceded everything that was asked for in the joint report, 
insisted that the business for which the General Societies 
had been convened in extraordinary session should be carried 
out, and so sent the following resolution to the Sons of the 
Revolution : 

Resolved, That we disapprove of the motion as not pertinent to Paragraph 
4 of the report of the committee, and we request the other Society now to unite 
with us to adopt the Constitution in accordance with that paragraph. 

The General Society of the Sons of the Revolution adhering 
to its supplementary plan, and declining to take joint and im- 
mediate action, our own National Society adjourned sine die. 



The unfortunate outcome of this plan of union has been de- 
plored by a vote of the Board of Managers of the District of 
Columbia Society of the Sons of the Revolution, in which 
regret no one shares more deeply than the President of your 
Society and the Board of Managers, over whom he has had the 
honor to preside. Your President feels that he has especially 
to deplore this failure, since for this purpose only he consented 
to accept re-election last year at the hands of this Society. 

In now retiring to a position much more agreeable to him, 
that of a simple member of the Society, he desires to express 
his thanks to the executive officers and Board of Managers, to 
whose active interest and generous support are due the great 
prosperity and success of the local Society. He further extends 
his hearty thanks to those members of the Society who by 
presence at the general meetings of the association and by sug- 
gestions and labor have shown their marked desire to advance 
the interests of the Society and in general to promote its pros- 
perity. 



10 

II. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN SONS OF THE 
REVOLUTION AND SONS OF THE AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

Sone of tbe IRevolutton, 

Society of the District of Columbia. 

Washington, February i8, 1893. 

Mr. a. Howard Clark, Secretary 

Sons of the American Revolution. 
Dear Sir: 

I have the honor to inform you that at a meeting of the 
Board of Managers of this Society held this day it was 

Resolved, By the Board of Managers of the District of 
Columbia Society, Sons of the Revolution, that they have heard 
with deep regret of the unexpected result of the meeting of 
the General Society in New York on the i6th instant; 

That this Board earnestly hopes that measures looking to a 
union of this Society and the Sons of the American Revolution 
may yet be devised, and 

That the temporary arrangement of co-operation between 
this Society and the Sons of the American Revolution in the 
District of Columbia continue in force for the present. 
Very respectfully, 

Pickering Dodge, 

Secretary. 

%o\\<s> of tbe Hmerican IRcvolution. 

District of Columbia Society. 

Washington City, February 20, 1893. 

Pickering Dodge, Esa, Secretary 

Sons of the Revolution 
My Dear Sir: 

By direction of Gen. A. W. Greely, President of this Society, 
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
February 18, and to inform you fhat it will be laid before the 
Board of Management at the next meeting. 



II 

1 am further directed to express to you the genuine gratifica- 
tion of the President of this Society to learn of the continued 
desire of your Society to co-operate in a friendly manner in all 
matters and on all occasions which may subserve the patriotic 
interests of the two Societies, and no one deplores more than 
the President of this Society the unexpected failure of the plan 
of union in New York, on February i6th, nor does any one 
more earnestly hope that a union of the two Societies, two in 
name but one in spirit, may yet be accomplished. 

The President desires me further to state that he considers 
the co-operative arrangement between the two Societies as 
remaining in force until such time as the Board of Managers of 
both Societies shall terminate it by formal resolve, an action 
which he feels certain will not be initiated by this Society. 
Very respectfully, 

A. Howard Clark, 

Secretary. 

In meeting of the Board of Management, at 1 1 A. M. on Feb- 
ruary 22, 1893, and in Annual Meeting of the Society, at noon 
on the same day, the sentiments expressed in the above 
correspondence were unanimously approved, and on February 
25th the Secretary officially informed the Sons of the Revolution 
of such approvarl. 



12 

III. EXAMINATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBER- 

SHIP. 

The Board of Management desires to invite attention to the 
fact that the applications and genealogy of members of this 
Society have not only to pass the scrutiny of the local and 
national officers and the two committees of Eligibility and 
Acceptability, but are all habitually published so as to challenge 
the scrutiny of every one. 

IV. OFFICERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION, ELECTED FEBRUARY 22, 1893. 

iPresiDcnt 

Gen. J. C. Breckinridge U. S. A. 

Dice*lP>re6iDcnt0 

Mr. Justice David J. Brewer, 
Mr. William D. Cabell, 
Dr. G. Brown Goode, 
Hon. George H. Shields, 
President E. M. Gallaudet. 

Ibonorars \D(ce*lPrc5iDents 

Hon. Levi P. Morton, 

Admiral John L. Worden, U. S. N., 

Senator John Sherman, 

Admiral James E. Jouett, U. S. N,, 

Gen. E. D. Townsend, U. S. A., 

Gen. O. B. Willcox, U. S. A., 

Gen. J. J. Dana, U. S. A., 

Gen. H. V. Boynton, 

Capt. George Washington Ball, 

Gen. a. W. Greely, U. S. A., 

Hon. Marshall McDonald, 

Col. Thornton Augustin Washington, 

Hon. John Goode. 

Secretaries 

A. Howard Clark, Smithsonian Institution. 
Capt. C. D. Cowles, U. S. A., War Records Office. 



13 
treasurer 

William Van Zandt Cox, U. S. National Museum. 
IRegistrar 

William J. Rhees, Smithsonian Institution. 
Bssistant IRcglstrar 

Surgeon George H. Penrose, Soldiers' Home. 
Ibistorian 

Dr. Francis O. St. Clair, Department of State. 
Gbaplaln 

Rev. Thos. S. Childs, D. D. 
JSoarD ot /llbanagement 

The Officers of the Society 

and the following thirteen members : 

Andrew Adgate Lipscomb, 

Prof. Otis T. Mason, 

Ernest Wilkinson, 

Henry Wise Garnett, 

Herbert Gouverneur Ogden 

William^ A. DeCaindry, 

Prof. J. 'R. Eastman, U. S. N., 

George Lafayette Clark, 

Hon. Myron M. Parker, 

Commander F, W. Dickins, U. S. N., 

Hon. John W. Douglass, 

Bernard R. Green, 

Col. John Bell Brownlow. 



14 

V. STANDING COMMITTEES APPOINTED MARCH 15, 
1893. 

Hbvancement auD Xookout Committee* 



Commander F. W. Dickins, U. S. N., Chairman. 



Coi.. S. T. Abert, 

Rev. Thomas G. Addison, D. D., 

WlIvWAM D. BAIvDWIN, 

Dr. J. W. Bayne, 

Capt. Francis H. Bates, U. S. A., 

Hon. C. a. B0UTE1.1.E, 

Gen. H. V. Boynton, 

A. Howard Ci^ark, 

Rev. John Chester, D. D., 

Capt. C. D. Cowi^es, U. S. A., Sec'y, 

Miivi^S DEAN, 

Medical Director R. C. Dean, 

U. S. N., 
Gen. a. W. GrEELY, U. S. a., 
Hon. J. W. Douglass, 
Henry Gannett, 
Gen. H. G. Gibson, U. S. A., 
Hon. John Goode, 
Bernard R. Green, 
Hon. C. H. Grosvenor, M. C, 
Dr. W. J. Hoffman, 
Hon. John S. Henderson, M. C, 
Major W. 



Medical Director W. T. Hord, 

U. S. N., 
Arnold Burges Johnson, 

S. P. IvANGLEY, 
J. P. IvOTHROP, 

Philip F. Larner, 
Prof. O. T. Mason, 
James Maynard, 
Alexander Porter Morse, 
E. A. MosELEY, 
Herbert G. Ogden, 
Hon. M. M. Parker, 
Surgeon Geo. H. Penrose, 
Col. Felix A. Reeve, 
Owen Riley, 

Gen. Rufus Saxton, U. S. Vols., 
John Sevier, 

Mr. Justice William Strong, 
John Barker Thompson, 
John Hunn Voorhees, 
Dallas Bache Wainwright, 
Col. Thornton A. Washington, 
H. Webster. 



Committee on /iDeetings. 



Hon. George H. vShields, Chairmatt. 



Mr.Justice David J. Brewer, 
Gen. H. V. Boynton, 
Surgeon Geo. H. Penrose, 

Secretary, 
A. Howard Clark, 



Gen. H. G. Gibson, U. S. A., 
Francis Eugene Storm, 
Capt. C. D. Cowles, U. S. A., 
William A. De Caindry, 
Col. C. W. Coombs, 



15 



William Van Zandt Cox, 
Bernard R. Green, 
Ernest Wilkinson, 
Dr. J. W. Bayne, 
Commander F. W. Dickins, 

U. S. N., 
Andrew Adgate Lipscomb, 
William E. Annin, 



Rev, Thos. S. Childs, D. D. 
Francis E. Grice, 
Dr. Joseph Taber Johnson, 
Philip F. Larner, 
William Hamilton Bayly, 
John Barker Thompson, 
Col. a. a. Hosmer, 
W. H. Pearce. 



By order of the Society: 

A. Howard Clark, 



Secretary. 



NGB£SS 




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